ArticleAdvanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)2025
Enhanced Brain-Heart Connectivity as a Precursor of Reduced State Anxiety after Therapeutic Virtual Reality Immersion.
Article in Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Virtual reality enhanced mindfulness and yoga intervention for postpartum depression and anxiety in the post COVID era.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Brain-heart interactions in late-onset major depressive disorder revealed by multimodal HRV-driven fMRI.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Efficacy of Virtual Reality-Based Mindfulness Interventions: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR XR and spatial computing · 2026Review
- Improvement of anxious but not depressive symptoms is associated with functional outcomes of psychocardiological rehabilitation.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Enhanced Brain-Heart Connectivity as a Precursor of Reduced State Anxiety after Therapeutic Virtual Reality Immersion.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Advanced and long-term meditation and the autonomic nervous system: A review and synthesis.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
State anxiety involves transient feelings of tension and nervousness in response to threats, which can escalate into anxiety disorders if persistent. Despite treatments, 30%-50% of individuals show limited improvement, and neurophysiological mechanisms of treatment responsiveness remain unclear, requiring the development of objective biomarkers. In this study, multimodal electrophysiological parameters are monitored: heart rate variability (high frequency (HF), low frequency (LF), LF/HF ratio), EEG beta and alpha relative power, and brain-to-heart connectivity in participants with real-life state anxiety. Participants underwent a therapeutic intervention combining virtual-reality immersion, hypnotic script, and a breath control exercise. Real-life state anxiety is captured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y1 (STAI-Y1) scale before and after the intervention. Reduced anxiety is observed immediately after the intervention in 16 out of 27 participants. While all participants, independently of their STAI-Y1 score, showed increased heart rate variability (HRV) low frequency power, only treatment-responders displayed increased overall autonomic tone (high and low frequency HRV), increased midline beta power and brain-to-heart connectivity. Notably, the LF/HF ratio showed a significant linear relationship with anxiety reduction, with higher ratios linked to greater therapeutic response. These findings suggest that increased cognitive regulation of brain-to-heart connectivity can serve as a biomarker for therapeutic efficacy, with elevated midline beta power facilitating improved cardiac tone in responders.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.